Acer unveiled a pair of AMD Ryzen 8040-series laptops on Tuesday. Unsurprisingly, given their chips’ dedicated neural processing units (NPUs), the company is touting the 2024 Acer Swift Edge 16 and Swift Go 14 as AI workhorses. Windows 11 machines support OLED displays, Radeon 780M graphics and 32 GB of RAM.
The Ryzen 8040 series of chips, revealed in December, features a dedicated AI Engine that AMD claims makes it up to 1.4 times faster than its predecessors in Llama 2 and AI vision performance. Acer says the Swift Edge 16 and Swift Go 14 will implement NPU for AI-related tasks like PurifiedVoice (removing background noise in calls and recordings) and PurifiedView (blurring the background in images and correcting your eye position during video calls).
Like most new Windows machines (including Acer’s models unveiled at CES 2024), laptops have a dedicated Microsoft Copilot button on their keyboards for quick AI queries like ChatGPT. (Kopilot taps into Microsoft and OpenAI servers via the cloud instead of using the NPU on the device.)
Both machines’ AMD chips include Microsoft’s Pluto security coprocessor. Introduced in 2020 through partnerships with AMD and Intel, it brings security right into the processor, helping to protect your credentials, encryption keys and personal data from hackers.
Acer Swift Edge 16
Acer markets the Acer Swift Edge 16 as performance optimized without sacrificing portability. All variants of the device have a 16-inch OLED panel with WQXGA (3200 x 2000) resolution and a frame rate of 120 Hz with a response time of less than 0.2 ms. It supports 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification for (what should be) accurate and nuanced visuals.
Ryzen 7 8840U laptop processor is joined by AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics. The laptop has up to 32 GB LPDDR5 RAM and 2 TB PCIe 4.0 SSD storage. Depending on your configuration, it supports Wi-Fi 7 or Wi-Fi 6E.
The Swift Edge 16 weighs 2.71 lbs and is 12.95 mm tall. It is fitted into a magnesium-aluminum alloy body and has a 54 Wh battery. It includes two USB-C ports (with USB4 speeds up to 40 Gbps), two USB-A, one HDMI 2.1 and a microSD slot.
Acer Swift Go 14
The smaller of the pair, the Acer Swift Go 14, has up to an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS octa-core processor with AMD Radeon 780M graphics. (Cheaper configurations will swap that for a Ryzen 7 8845HS or Ryzen 5 8645HS.) The machine has up to 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to a 2TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD.
The top 14-inch variant will have a WQXGA (2880×1800) OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. Another version will swap that for a 1920 x 1200 IPS touchscreen panel. The hinges of the device can be extended up to 180 degrees, and its glass trackpad is 44 percent larger than the previous model. Supports Wi-Fi 6E.
Thanks to its smaller footprint, Acer markets the Swift Go 14 as a more portable version. However, it’s about seven percent heavier than its 16-inch counterpart—at 2.91 lbs. It comes in 65 or 50 Wh battery configurations.
Both models have 1440p QHD webcams, although only the Swift Go 14 is listed as having a privacy shutter. The smaller model is lighter on ports than the 16-inch model, forgoing a pair of USB-A ports on the larger one. The Swift Go 14 has two USB-C ports (both support USB4 speeds), an HDMI 2.1 connector and a microSD slot.
Prices and availability
The Swift Edge 16 launches in March in North America, starting at $1,300. Meanwhile, the Swift Go 14 will follow in April, starting at $700. Beyond their entry-level models, Acer has yet to detail how pricing will break down across the various configurations.